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Japanese Girl’s Day a highlight in March at Detroit Institute of Arts Movies - Live music and storytelling also part of March activities

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

(Detroit)—The arts of Japan are highlighted in March at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) with Japanese Girl’s Day, live music featuring a grand master of Japanese flute, and a documentary on one of the world’s best sushi chefs. The exhibitions Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010 and Once Upon a Time: Prints and Drawings that Tell Stories are on view, and Gift of a Lifetime: The James Pearson Duffy Collection ends March 18.

Detroit City Chess Club: Fridays, 4–8 p.m.The club’s mission is to teach area students the game and life lessons. Members have won state, regional and national competitions. People wanting to learn how to play chess should show up between 4 and 6 p.m. There will be no teaching between 6 and 8 p.m., but visitors can play chess.

Friday Night Live, March 2Music:Ashley Bathgate and Ian Ding: 7 & 8:30 p.m.Ashley Bathgate is the cellist for the eclectic New York-based, contemporary sextet Bang on a Can All-Stars. For this performance she plays some of the most challenging and exciting contemporary music with New Music Detroit’s Ian Ding.

Family Sunday, March 4Sunday Music Bar: Michael Chikuzen Gould: 1 & 3 p.m.Michael Chikuzen Gould performs on the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute usually made of bamboo. Gould studied the shakuhachi in Japan and is one of only a few to hold the title of “Dai Shihan” (Grand Master of Shakuhachi).

Japanese Girl’s Day: Artist Demonstrations: 1–4 p.m.Join us for a celebration of Japanese Girl’s Day, or Hinamatsuri, with demonstrations of Ikebana flower arranging, tea ceremony, furoshiki wrapping, and kimono sash tying. Presented by the Japan Society of Detroit’s Women’s Club and the Consulate General of Japan in Detroit.

Lecture:Landscape/Escape:Racialized Terrain in 19th-Century American Art: 2 p.m.Richard Powell, professor of art history of Duke University, Durham, NC will discuss how 19th-century African American artists used landscape painting to express ideas of freedom and citizenship. Sponsored by Associates of the American Wing

Detroit Film Theatre: A Separation: 7:30 p.m.This Iranian contemporary family drama focuses on a middle-class couple faced with a difficult decision: to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a parent who has Alzheimer’s. Winner of the New York Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film and a Golden Globe nominee in the same category.For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Tickets: $7.50; DIA members, seniors and students, $6.50.

Friday Night Live, March 9Lecture: A New Paintingby Juan Valdés Leal at the DIA:6:30 p.m.Juan Valdés Leal and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo were central artistic figures in Seville between 1650 and 1700. The DIA owns two works by Murillo and has recently added a painting by Valdés. Salvador Salort-Pons, DIA head of European art and curator of European paintings, will discuss the history of the Valdés work and explain the importance of this newly acquired Spanish painting to the DIA collection. Sponsored by European Paintings Council

Detroit FilmTheatre:The Conquest: 7 & 9:30 p.m.This real-life story chronicles the behind-the-scenes scandals and secrets that accompanied Nicolas Sarkozy’s startling ascension to the presidency of France in 2007, and the emotional and psychological stakes that accompany the ultimate but oft-unspoken goal of politics: power. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Tickets: $7.50; DIA members, seniors and students, $6.50.

Saturday, March 10Lecture: The Arabic Text on the Muqarnas Ceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo: 2 p.m.With its Arabic text distributed throughout the magnificent figurative program, the muqarnas ceiling of the 12th-century Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) is an art-historical puzzle. Hashim Al-Tawil, professor and chair of art history, Henry Ford Community College, has studied the ceiling extensively, and will present a stylistic analysis and linguistic interpretation of the calligraphic text and images. Sponsored by Asian and Islamic Art Forum

Detroit Film Theatre: DFT 101: L’Atalante: 4 p.m.This elegant love story is the only feature made by France’s Jean Vigo, who died as he completed filming at the age of 29. Restored to Vigo’s 1934 original vision, this tale of a young bride and groom’s troubles as they sail along the Seine on their honeymoon was described by The Village Voice in 2000 as “perhaps the greatest film ever made.” For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Free with museum admission and for DIA members; $5 for general public without museum admission.

Lecture: Expanding the Field of Vision:Modern Art in Nigeria and Cultural Diplomacy in the Mid-20thCentury: 2 p.m.As Nigerian resistance to British colonialism intensified in the 1940s and 1950s, civil rights activism in the United States also increased. This lecture explores how international artistic exchanges influenced innovations among African and African American artists on both sides of the Atlantic, including Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu and U.S. artist Jacob Lawrence. Sponsored by Friends of African and African American Art

Friday Night Live, March 16Music: Erik Asgeirsson, Marian Tanau and Pauline Martin: 7 & 8:30 p.m.Asgeirsson, Tanau and Martin perform music in various combinations of violin, cello and piano, including Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, op. 40. Cellist Erik Asgeirsson is a native Detroiter who currently resides in Cologne, Germany. He is joined by Detroit Symphony Orchestra violinist Marian Tanau and pianist Pauline Martin.

Detroit Film Theatre: The Gold Rush (newly restored version): 7 & 9:30 p.m.Charlie Chaplin’s great silent comedy about prospecting in turn-of-the-century Klondike features some of his most famous scenes, including his carefully consumed dinner of boiled shoe, with the laces serving as spaghetti, and “the dance of the dinner rolls.” Presented with a newly recorded version of Chaplin’s original 1942 musical score. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Tickets: $7.50; DIA members, seniors and students, $6.50.

Panel Discussion: Perspectives onPhotography—Detroit: 7 p.m.Nancy Barr, DIA associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, and Detroit-area photographers share their perspectives on Detroit and discuss work in the exhibition Detroit Revealed: Photographs, 2000–2010. The evening will include presentations by Michelle Andonian, Carlos Diaz, Scott Hocking, and Corine Vermeulen, with a follow-up panel discussion moderated by Nancy Barr. Sponsored by the Forum for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs

Saturday, March 17Detroit Film Theatre: DFT 101: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: 4 p.m.The story of a carnival sleepwalker who murders at the behest of the demented Dr. Caligari remains one of the most important and enduring examples of German expressionist silent cinema. Brilliantly fashioned to explore the boundaries between madness and sanity, this newly restored print will be accompanied on the piano by David Drazin. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Free with museum admission and for DIA members; $5 for general public without museum admission.

Family Sunday, March 18Family Performance: Found by Mary Elizabeth Anderson: 2 p.m.Featuring music, dance, puppetry and talking animals, Found presents two intertwined stories about the way the people can get lost and found in nature. Sponsored by Founders Junior Council

Wednesday, March 21Lecture: In Conversationwith Beth Lipman: 7 p.m.Artist Beth Lipman creates still-life tableaus in glass. Her lushly full installations address the joy and fragility of life. Here to install work in the DIA’s Aviva and Jack A. Robinson Gallery, Lipman will share her studio practice, which includes glass blowing, sculpture and photography. Sponsored by Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art

Friday Night Live, March 23Music:Barbez performsBella Ciao: 7 & 8:30 p.m.Barbez is a Brooklyn-based group working at the cross-section of experimental rock, Jewish and Eastern European folk and contemporary classical music. They will perform music from their upcoming release.

Detroit Film Theatre: Crazy Horse: 7 p.m.Frederick Wiseman takes us behind and in front of the scenes at a storied Paris cultural institution: the Crazy Horse erotic cabaret, now in its 60th year of continuous operation. An exuberant, one-of-a-kind valentine to a Parisian tradition, Crazy Horse is recommended for adults only. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Tickets: $7.50; DIA members, seniors and students, $6.50.

Detroit Film Theatre: The Gold Rush: 9:45 p.m.(See March 16 for details)

Saturday, March 24Detroit Film Theatre: DFT 101: Rio Bravo: 4 p.m.This character-rich, easygoing western tells a classic tale: a small-town sheriff (John Wayne) has to keep a killer safely imprisoned in the town’s tiny lockup, despite the efforts of the bad guy’s friends to break him out. Co-starring with Wayne are Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Free with museum admission and for DIA members; $5 for general public without museum admission.

Detroit Film Theatre: Crazy Horse: 7 p.m.(See March 23 for details)

Detroit Film Theatre: The Gold Rush: 9:45 p.m.(See March 16 for details)

Family Sunday, March 25Sunday Music Bar:The Musicof BélaBartók: 1 & 3 p.m.Pianist Robert Conway performs the works of Béla Bartók, who is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century, to celebrate Bartók’s birthday. Conway will play Bartók’s Contrasts and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.

Puppet Performance: PuppetArt’s Sleeping Beauty… A Marionette Ballet: 2 p.m.PuppetART presents an original version of this age-old story with a new twist. Dazzling puppets dance to beautiful music to reawaken this classic for children of all ages.Sponsored by Founders Junior Council

Detroit Film Theatre: Crazy Horse: 2 p.m.(See March 23 for details)

Detroit Film Theatre: The Gold Rush: 4:45 p.m.(See March 16 for details)

Friday Night Live, March 30Music:Kihnoua: 7 & 8:30 p.m.Kihnoua is formed by saxophonist and composer Larry Ochs, who combined his interest in Korean singing and improvisation with the sounds and structures of Western improvised music. The band’s core is Larry Ochs, Dohee Lee (vocals) and Scott Amendola (drums). Trevor Dunn is a guest bassist.

Detroit Film Theatre: Jiro Dreams of Sushi: 7 p.m.Considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef, Jiro Ono runs a 10-seat restaurant in a Tokyo subway station. Despite the modest surroundings, the restaurant has received the prestigious three-star rating from the Michelin Guide, yet chef Ono strives for perfection daily, as well as struggling with the ordinary problems of family life. For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Tickets: $7.50; DIA members, seniors and students, $6.50.

Saturday, March 31Detroit Film Theatre: DFT 101: Harvest: 4 p.m.An itinerant tinker decides to “sell” his mistress—a down-on-her-luck cabaret singer—to a wild, hermit-like hunter, the sole resident of his now-abandoned town. The tale of how this unlikely couple find themselves at one with the land—planting wheat, establishing a home, creating a child—is the core of one of the most poetic dramas in the history of the French cinema.For a detailed description, visit www.dia.org/dft/schedule.asp. Free with museum admission and for DIA members; $5 for general public without museum admission.

Detroit Film Theatre: Jiro Dreams of Sushi: 7 p.m.(See March 30 for details)

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum (Self-Portrait, 1887), to Diego Rivera's world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932–33), the DIA's collection is known for its quality, range, and depth. The DIA’s mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.